


Coffee

by Sukie_Kagamine



Category: Bohemian Rhapsody (Movie 2018) Actor RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Flirting, Fluff, M/M, Matchmaking, Shyness, Sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-24
Updated: 2020-01-24
Packaged: 2021-02-27 05:02:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,555
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22391467
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sukie_Kagamine/pseuds/Sukie_Kagamine
Summary: Ben dropped out of college despite his parents' protest, got into Bohemian Rhapsody, the antique coffee shop in central London, worked there as a bartender and manager and never misplace an order his entire career just because of his burning passion for coffee. He just found out he had a huge crush on this cute tall Welsh customer, only to know later that this man hate all coffee in general.
Relationships: Ben Hardy/Gwilym Lee
Comments: 6
Kudos: 26





	Coffee

**Author's Note:**

> A small, fluffy break from In the death cell. I hope you enjoy!

"I'm sorry, what do you mean?" Ben's eyebrows creased at the man's words in disbelief. 

"Oh, you're not offended, aren't you?" The Welshman chuckled as he sipped his black coffee, shaking his head. 

"I mean… A little." He admitted, and the other man burst into a quiet laughter. He looked so gorgeous laughing that Ben almost forgot how to breathe for a second.

"Hey, I'm sorry if my statement about coffee made you uncomfortable." He smiled at Ben, the most gentle and adorable smile he had ever seen, and Ben tried so hard to stop himself from blushing like a schoolgirl. It would be ridiculous for a 5 feet 10 muscular man to do that. Even though he was sure that standing next to the man in front of him, he would definitely look like a tiny schoolgirl.

"But why do you think all coffee in the world tastes bad?" Ben huffed, couldn't hide his petulant pout. This Welsh customer was extremely lucky he was hot enough to say something like that in one of the most famous and oldest coffee shops in London and not getting beaten up.

"It's just my opinion, Ben. Nothing personal against any kind of coffee." Seriously, he should ask this man's name. He had nothing to moan at night when he touched himself thinking about this man, and it was getting on his nerves.

"But, all coffee? Like, every kind?" Ben narrowed his eyes, shrugging. "Americano, Cappuccino, Latte, all of them? Not one single kind that you find tasty?"

"I mean, I hate my black coffee less than others, since you made it with so much enthusiasm." The man smirked, and this time he knew that he blushed, because How the heck can this man know he spent all of his special skill set in making coffee just to make sure the one black coffee was always perfect? Did he know Ben was having a gigantic crush on him since the first time he walked into the coffee shop? Was he flirting back, or was Ben imagining it?

"...Th--thank you." Ben kicked himself in his head for sounding so shaky. He should be confident! The cute tall Welsh man (his current nickname for this bloke) once said he loved confident people.

"Like I said, it's not something personal. I don't like coffee simply because its taste and smell was not appealing to me. I consider it like a legal stimulant that helps me get through my day, not a lovely beverage that I can enjoy while drinking, that's all." He said, thumb brushing over the rim of the coffee cup Ben had just placed on his table a few minutes ago.

"But everyone has to like something." Ben looked into his ocean blue eyes, trying not to get weak in the knees. "You just haven't taste the kind that you like yet."

"Well, I think I did." The man sighed. "Seriously, I tried a different kind of coffee everyday for the past fifteen years, even the most expensive kind I can find, and none of them excites me."

Ben didn't know how to respond to that. He spent most of his years loving the art of making and enjoying coffee. He even ignored his parents' protest to drop out of college to apply into Bohemian Rhapsody, the 70s vintage coffee shop they were standing in right now, just so he could learn more about making new kinds of amazing coffee to satisfy all of London. He had this weird love for coffee that never stopped after years of running the shop with his colleague and best friend Joe The American. His passion for making coffee was so strong that he forgot about himself outside of work. He didn't even notice himself being only interested in men, not until last year when he finally broke up with his nine year girlfriend. They tried to make it work between them for so long, but Ben was so busy with his work he didn't have time to understand that the relationship between them was only platonic before his girl had to drop the break up into his face. Sometimes he still blamed himself for not caring about her enough. If he spent enough time for her, he would have known and not wasted so much of her time.

Thank God coffee was still there to comfort him, and he came back to being the workaholic that was obsessed with making coffee. Until this hot as a volcano man showed up and messed with his head more and more everyday.

"Enjoy your coffee." Ben returned his smile stiffly before walking back to his spot behind the counter. Brian, the owner of the coffee shop, a sweet old man with rock star silver hair and extremely friendly gestures, had insisted that he was promoted to being the shop's manager, but he said he was happy with this. He was happy with surrounding himself with what he loved. 

And this man, didn't matter how sweet, hot and caring he was, hated coffee, the only thing Ben loved in the world right now, and it meant the end of this weird imaginative one sided relationship. Hating coffee, Jesus. He didn't need that kind of negativity in his life. Ben sighed as he rolled up his sleeves and started to clean off the counter, preparing for the next customers. It was usually the busiest time of the day, but strangely, the cute tall Welsh man was the only one coming in in the last five hours. It was infuriating how kind and lovely he was, and yet he hated coffee just like that. It was not fair - he chose to get to a rather high end coffee shop for a single black coffee, and then when Ben put his heart and soul into the coffee, he just burst Ben's bubble. What a waste of time.

"Okay, you're not looking very well for someone daydreaming about their handsome crush, what's the problem?" The familiar American accent made him flinch. The cheerfulness in it annoyed him to no end. He hated it when people were happy while he was drowned in his own pit of disappointment.

"He just told me coffee tastes boring and he doesn't like any kind of coffee at all." Ben shrugged, lowering his gaze. "I don't know why he's even here - saying that is like telling me my coffee is boring too and he's completely not interested in me at all. Who would be so mean they have to spend money in here just to tell me that?"

"Whoa, whoa, hey, that's a lot of interpretation from only seeing him once a day." Joe put a hand on his shoulder. "Let's slow down and think about it, shall we?"

"What is there to think about?" Ben groaned, trying not to let his voice reach the only customer sitting in the coffee shop. "Coffee is my life. He hates it. That's it."

"Ben." Joe snapped his fingers, calling him. "Ben, Ben. Come on. Look at me."

Ben finally looked into Joe's eyes. He looked so much like a sad puppy Joe had to stop himself from jumping over the counter to come and shake some sense into that coffee hating weirdo. 

"Do you like him? Like, a lot?" He asked, and then shook his head. "No, how much do you like him, exactly?"

"You know how much." Ben crossed his arms. "You keep teasing me about how I look whenever he comes in, or how careful I am with his order. You said I'm a high school nerd having a crush for the first time."

Joe seemed to be slightly guilty at his previous words. "Well, that's just me joking around, Ben. But I want to know if you're serious about this guy. I mean, it's your first, guy, right?"

The blond man just ducked his head and turned away. He was twenty nine years old. He was this close to thirty. People usually have sex when they were in high school or at least college, and there he was, being confused over a crush when people his age were supposed to get married and have children. It's stupid how late he finally realized something so important about himself. And he wasn't even sure if this bloke liked men. He could be the straightest bloke ever set foot into this shop, and Ben came back to being a lonely, sad and pathetic gay man in London again.

"Come on, tell me. How serious are you?" Joe still tried to get the answer out of him, and Ben mumbled.

"I masturbate while thinking about him…?"

Joe spurt and burst into laughter. He laughed so hard even the cute tall Welsh man turned around to check on him, but then the man saw Ben and immediately turned away. It hurt him a little. Did he despise Ben that much? Then what do all of the time he met Ben here mean?

"Okay, alright, that's a lot more romantic than I expected." Joe wiped a tear away, his face red with laughter. "I was expecting something naughty like wanting to hold his hand and getting married to him or something."

"This conversation is over." Ben rolled his eyes and got inside, ignoring Joe's voice calling behind him. 

"Hey, hey, come on, I'm sorry for pissing you off, I didn't mean to." Joe ran after him and finally caught up. "I just wanted to know if you really like this guy that much. If you think he's worth of your time and effort and emotions."

Ben didn't reply. He just bit his lip and stared at Joe, not knowing what to say. He wasn't sure. He had just met this cute tall Welsh man for a few weeks, and all he knew was the image of this man just popped up into his thoughts and visions everytime someone mentioned something mildly romantic. He loved the sound of this man's voice, how low and gravel and sexy it sounded, how his legs went on for days and days and that's probably why he could jump from one dream to another, because Ben kept having dreams about him all the time. And the most important thing, was how he couldn't stop thinking about the time he saw this man on the street. A stray dog got into a car accident, and the man threw everything away to come and help the tiny dog. The look of concern and kindness in his eyes made Ben's heart throb. 

Sure, he had seen this man being the perfect angel for a lot of times, but he knew everybody's got a dark side, and he knew nothing about cute tall Welsh man's. He didn't know his family, his job, his life, his personality, or even his name. He couldn't like someone without knowing about their soul. Being head over heels for someone just for their look was always something Ben hated. 

"But I think I like him. A lot." The words came out of his mouth without him knowing it. "I really want to know him. I want us to be something."

Joe smiled. "Well, in that case, you have to fight for him, Ben. Nothing good comes easy. If you really like him, then coffee hating shouldn't be something important. You can just ignore your weird obsession with coffee and go with it."

Ben shook his head. "Absolutely not."

"But coffee is your career, right?" Joe immediately changed his tone. Bastard. "It's your passion. You can't ignore it just for some random guy, right? If you want him, you have to make him understand the love for coffee that you have. You need to have similarities, you need to understand each other."

"Which means?" 

"Make him some new coffee. Use them as an excuse to talk and know more about each other. If he already tried everything and still hates it, you need to surprise him with some new recipes." Joe threw his hands in the air with excitement.

"Joe, you know how it went the last time I tried to be creative." Ben sighed, rubbing his forehead. "This is not a good idea!"

"That's ages ago when you knew nothing about coffee at all! You're different now! Brian didn't teach you so many things just so you can stay with the same menu for the rest of your life, yeah? You're practically the manager of this shop, the responsibility is on you!"

"So this crush of mine is just a reason for you to say I'm not responsible enough for this coffee shop?" Ben rolled his eyes.

"I'm just saying Bohemian Rhapsody needs something new in its menu, and you should be the one making those differences. Because Brian taught you a lot about coffee, and you're more talented than you think." Joe really meant it. "And that can help you impress this cute guy and change his opinion about coffee, so two birds with one stone, yeah?"

Ben pouted, thinking for a minute. Joe was...right. Unbelievably right, for the first time in forever. He had always been scared of making up new things ever since the first time he tried it and had a jerk of a customer throw the drink into his face. His little experiment drink got Brian almost bankrupt, and he never stopped being guilty for that, no matter how much Brian told him it was okay. He didn't leave college behind just to screw everything up, that's why he became someone like he was right now. Always followed the rules, being annoyingly precise with what he did, never made a mistake. And never made a difference.

"You need to face your fears and go for it, Ben. I'll help you. Brian will help you. Lucy, Roger, everyone." Joe gave him a tight hug. "And we will be there at you and that guy's wedding."

Ben shoved him playfully.

"What's his name again?"

Ben blushed. "I...don't know." 

"What?!" Joe almost screamed. "What?"

"I didn't have the chance to ask."

"Jesus, coward!" Joe groaned and dragged him out. "Come on, you're getting out there, asking his name, and tell him you'll make him a brand new kind of coffee everyday until he finds something he likes. For the rest of his life if that's what it takes."

"What, I'm not gonna do--" Ben didn't finish his sentence before realizing that cute tall Welsh man was standing at the other side of the counter, right in front of him. He stuttered and then went quiet, face getting burning hot with embarrassment. He had no idea how much of the conversation this man heard. God, it would be ridiculous if he listened to Ben and Joe talking the whole time.

"Oh, hey." The man seemed awkward too. He scratched his neck. "I just--want to check if you're okay."

Ben's breath caught in his throat. "I--yeah. Of course I'm okay. Why wouldn't I be?"

"That's great." The man looked obviously relieved. "I'm just worried that you might feel a little upset about what I said earlier. I don't want to make you mad over some minor things I said or anything."

He was being so nice Ben just wanted to scream. Joe was pinching his side, being a nuisance. He was urging Ben to move forward and stop hiding. You know what, screw it.

"No, you didn't. That's just an opinion." Ben took in a breath. "But I don't want it to last any longer. If you haven't found your favorite kind of coffee yet, I'll make some for you."

"What do you mean?" The Welshman chuckled. Ben's heart was hammering in his chest as he spoke.

"I'm making up some new coffee recipes for you. And I'll make a brand new one everyday until you find something that can change your mind about coffee. I won't stop before that."

"Wow." He seemed surprised. His eyes widened, and then slowly, he smiled. A beautiful, warm, sunny smile. "That's amazing! I really look forward to it. Thanks Ben!"

Ben must be having illusions, because the Welshman's cheeks suddenly had a dusty pink shade on them. It was the most adorable thing on Earth.

"Oh, and one more thing." He called before the man could walk away.

"What do you need?"

"Your name. I would want to write your name down on the takeaway cup." 

The man just laughed. They both knew that he never took any drink away. He always spent time at the shop to finish his coffee in porcelain cups, despite him saying he never enjoyed it. 

"It's Gwilym. G W I L Y M. Not a very common name. But you can call me Gwil."

"That sounds lovely." And it was. 

"Oh, maybe--" Gwilym smiled nervously. "Maybe you'll need my number just in case I can't make it to the shop sometimes? I mean, my job can be so annoying and--"

"Yeah." Ben's face lit up ridiculously. Joe snickered behind him. "Of course. Here, write it down."

Gwil took the napkin and wrote his number down. Ben noticed him grinning the whole time. His heart sped up.

"Wait until you see your surprise tomorrow!"

.

.

.

The next morning, Gwil walked into the coffee shop with a bright smile on his face. The bell rang as he opened the door and stride into the shop, heading for the counter. He wore a long, navy overcoat, scarf around his neck, and there was some snow in his dark, gorgeous hair. Maybe Ben didn't found out he was gay before because he hadn't met anyone that looked, and sounded, and acted like Gwil yet.

"Hi, Ben." The man greeted him, blue eyes gleaming behind a pair of glasses. "What do you have for me today?"

Ben shoved his nervousness down inside before put on a smile. "Hey Gwil. I came up with the recipe last night and I think it'll be pretty new for you. Almond, cream, things like that. Just wait for me a second."

Gwil chuckled. "You didn't stay up all night to make up something for me, did you?"

Ben just shrugged and started working on his new coffee. The Welsh man shook his head and came to a table, sat down. He took out his phone and swiped at it for a while, humming a soft tune. Ben tried not to get distracted by how the ray of sunshine from the window danced on his hair.

"You guys' flirting is giving me all these goosebumps." Joe mumbled as he leaned on the counter, lazily watching Ben making the coffee as he usually did - exactly, precisely, and with all of the love in the world. It was even worse when the coffee was for Gwil.

"We weren't flirting." Ben said, eyes still focused on measuring the ingredients. 

"Maybe you'll need my number in case I can't make it." Joe rolled his eyes, mocking Gwil's voice. "As if I don't come here everyday just to see you make heart eyes over every little movement of his."

He waited for Ben's whines about shutting up, but it didn't come. Joe turned around to look at the blond man, and saw him pressing his lips together, concentrated entirely on making the coffee. He was careful, but also skillful and fast. The ingredients were mixed thoroughly before adding to the coffee from the machine, and it didn't take him long to finally finish the steaming cup of lovely brown coffee with a drop of milk. Ben's face broke into a wide grin when he picked the cup up and brought it to where Gwil was sitting. Joe's mouth fell open in shock when his friend ignored him completely from start to finish. Gwil and the cup of coffee was the only thing existed in his world.

"Here's yours." Ben smiled, placing the cup in front of Gwil. The man looked up from his phone and returned the smile.

"Thanks, Ben. What is this called?"

"Well… I haven't come up with a name yet." Ben bit his lip. "I'll just call it Gwil Special #1."

Gwil laughed out loud. "Right. Sounds interesting. Come on, sit down, it's not like the shop's too busy or anything. Let me tell you what I think about this."

Ben fumbled to sit down on the chair next to Gwil's, heart thumping in his chest at the close distance between them. God, he really was a high school nerd. Who his age could be nervous over sitting next to their crush? He tried to sit as not rigidly as possible, looking at Gwil. The man was even more flawless up close.

Gwil raised the cup to his lips and took a sip. He smiled and gulped down some more, before releasing the cup and licked his lips. 

"It was…" He grinned wickedly. "Slightly less boring than others."

Ben just laughed. Yeah, sure. He already said it, he wouldn't stop before Gwil really admitted that the coffee he made tasted nice. This one was only the beginning.

"Am I a little less boring to you now?" He ducked his head slightly, and Gwil's eyes widened.

"What? I never said you were boring!"

"Coffee is the way that I use to express myself." Ben looked down at the half empty coffee cup. "I suppose you found me boring too."

"I didn't--I never meant that." Gwil slipped closer. "I was an idiot for making you think that way. I'm sorry."

"Hey, I'm just a little too sensitive, it's not your fault." Ben replied. "I'm sorry, I'm not good with emotions."

"Everybody has them. You don't have to hide them to be good with them." Gwil looked into his eyes. "If you're coffee, then I say you're this Gwil Special #1. New, appealing, and has a lot of potential. If the first coffee you made me tastes like this, I'll probably fall in love with it very soon."

If Ben's face got any hotter, he'd be boiling. Thank God, a new customer came into the shop, and he stood up.

"I gotta go, enjoy your coffee!"

.

.

.

Everyday after that, Ben spent an hour a night to come up with a new coffee recipe. He made tons of different experiments with them - mixing this and that, putting ice into some and leaving some steamy hot, buying new ingredients, and sometimes chose the weirdest thing that people never put into their coffee. He asked Brian and Joe and everyone in the shop for suggestions, he looked for new recipes online, and he changed all of them to his creativity. Not all of them turned out amazing, but he learned so many things from his trial and errors with Gwil, and receiving the man's feedback was the highlight of his day. Gwil turned out to have a great taste for coffee, that explained his high expectations. Brian encouraged him all the way with a smile and pats on the back. Joe was right when he said Brian really wanted to see changes in Bohemian Rhapsody. 

And the customers seemed to like the Gwil Specials, too. They flooded in to try the different mix and ways of brewing coffee along with Lucy's wonderful desserts coming with each one, and soon the reputation of the Gwil Specials spread over London. Social medias exploded from their unique, new and adventurous coffee taken from Bohemian Rhapsody's new menu, the sales was boost to another level, and some of the Gwil Specials even made it into must try charts when people come to London on some newspapers. People asked each other all the time about the Gwil mentioned in the drinks, looking for him, and they never have to wait for long to find out. People usually find Gwil sitting enjoying the latest Gwil Special with Ben Jones, the shop's main bartender by his side, chatting and laughing and looking dreamily into each other's eyes. It lasted for weeks now, and none of the staff in the coffee shop seemed to mind anymore.

"Gwil Special #14 for Marjorie!" Lucy called, and a girl stepped up to receive her coffee. "Thank you for choosing Bohemian Rhapsody."

"Gwil Special #36 for Jason!" Ben called, handing the cup to the customer. It was an extremely busy day, and the line seemed to be never ending.

"Gwil Special #9 for Lukas!"

"Gwil Special #52 for Linda!"

"Gwil Special #71 for...Gwil?" Ben's eyes snapped up from the paper cup to see a familiar tall cute Welsh man smiling at him from behind a pair of glasses. He noticed the glasses were slightly different from yesterday, probably because the last pair got broken when falling to the ground of the coffee shop.

"Hey." Ben smiled back, giving Gwil his takeaway cup. The customers in the line stared at them. Some new ones whispered to each other, obviously surprised to see this mysterious Gwil for the first time. Some regulars just laughed and brushed away, as they saw Gwil coming to the shop everyday for a brand new Gwil Special. "Another takeaway? You're so busy these days. And why #71? I just finished a #72 for you today."

"Well, I guess that's not very necessary." Gwil drank the coffee from the cup. "You don't need to make any more Gwil Specials."

Ben's eyes widened. 

"Because #71 is now my favorite coffee." The man chuckled at Ben's confused expression. "I like it. It tastes amazing. The sugar, cinnamon and everything."

"Really?" Ben laughed in surprise and he suddenly threw himself in Gwil's arms, hugging him. "Finally! I did it! I made Gwilym Lee like coffee!"

He pulled back to give Gwil a wide smile. He couldn't believe it. It had been well, 71 days since he decided to prove Gwil that coffee wasn't bad by inventing brand new kinds of coffee for him to try everyday. But along the way, he had made so much more between him and Gwil, more than just an ordinary selling - buying relationship. Everyday, Gwil made plan to visit Ben, and Ben could have time to talk to him. They shared about everything in the world - their family, their jobs, their lives. And each day, Ben felt his crush for this man getting deeper and deeper inside him. He realized that he couldn't turn back from these feelings when Gwil was too busy to stay for just a day. Turned out missing someone it hurt was not just a figure of speech, but something real.

"I love it." Gwil said when he pulled back. And before Ben knew what was going on, Gwil closed the distance between them and touched his lips in a kiss. 

It was a brief, warm, just a brush of the lips kiss, and it left Ben dizzy after it ended. The entire shop roared with cheers and applause when they broke apart, the blond man's cheeks reddened adorably.

"Can we officially date now? I've been waiting for you to say yes for weeks, please don't say no." Gwil touched their foreheads, chuckled at Ben's wide, shocked, innocent eyes. 

"Yes, you guys can officially date now!" Lucy yelled at them, and the line of customers exploded in encouragements and cheers as well. 

"It's about time." Ben replied with a smile, and they had another deeper, sweeter kiss.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and kudos mean the world to me! Please tell me what you think!


End file.
